The European Cup semi-finals will start in the early hours of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Italy will play against Spain and England will play against Denmark.
Britain and Italy are calling for the championship, Denmark is eager to continue the fairy tale
The European Cup has determined the top four: Spain, Italy, Denmark, England.
Italy and England have become the two favorites to win the European Cup. The former hopes to win again after 1968, and the latter is expected to win the Delaunay Cup for the first time in team history.
The promotion of Spain and Denmark is stumbling. If the former can win the championship, it will surpass the German team and become the first four-time champion in the history of the European Cup. Denmark is looking forward to the "Danish fairy tale" once again.
●Past record
Spain 3 crowns England 0 crowns
Italy participated in the European Cup 10 times, this is their sixth time to break into the top 4, before only winning the cup in 1968.
In 2000 and 2012, Italy reached the final twice, but lost to France and Spain.
Italy’s opponents in the semifinals are Spain. The latter and Germany are the teams that have won the most championships in the history of the European Cup.
In 2008 and 2012, the Spanish "golden generation" represented by Casillas, Ramos, Xavi, Iniesta and Torres led the "Matador Corps" to become the first defending ball in the history of the European Cup team.
Now this Spanish team looks more commonplace, but there is no lack of competitiveness.
Among the four teams that have advanced to the semi-finals, England is the only team that has not won a championship.
The best result of the "Three Lions" in the European Cup was the third place in 1968. In the 1996 European Cup, England also entered the semi-finals. As a result, they lost to Germany in a penalty shootout and missed the championship again.
Today, the team has entered the European Cup semi-finals for the third time and is expected to make up for the regret of not having a European Cup at home.
The Danish team is not a traditional strong team in world football, but it performed well on the stage of the European Cup. For the 9th time, it participated in the main match and the Danish entered the semifinals for the 4th time.
The "Danish Fairy Tale" in 1992 was widely praised. At that time, they were lucky enough to make up for the competition, and went all the way to the final, defeating Germany to win the championship trophy.
Simply comparing the historical record, Denmark is even better than the semi-final opponent England.
●Performance this year
Britain and Italy are stronger and Denmark is the most inspirational
In the FIFA rankings and the total team worth rankings, England ranks first among the top four in the European Cup, followed by Spain, Italy, and Denmark.
However, compared to various rankings, it is more convincing to refer to the performance of the current game when predicting which team will win the championship.
Under the leadership of coach Mancini, Italy, without the blessing of superstars, changed its traditional tactical style, used civilians but extremely sharp offensive, and went all the way to the top four. It is also the only team that has won all five games in this European Cup. .
Scored 11 goals and lost only 2 goals. The players who contributed goals and assists were very scattered. Insigne, Immobile, Rocatelli and others all have good offensive power, Verati, Berardi’s The assist ability cannot be underestimated, and it can be described as the most balanced and comprehensive team among the top four.
The Spanish team's performance in the current European Cup was originally inconspicuous. The group was tied by Sweden and Poland. After a big victory over Slovakia in the last round, it was ranked second in the group to the top of 16.
The knockout matches played against Croatia and Switzerland, and Spain went through overtime and penalties.
Scored 12 goals in 5 games, but also lost 5 goals, it is also true that the top star Morata has poor ability to seize opportunities.
Unlike the strong wins of the two consecutive European Cups in 2008 and 2012, this Spanish team can break into the top four, and there is no lack of luck.
England's performance in the group stage was equally flat, with small wins over Croatia and the Czech Republic, and a goalless draw with Scotland. The team's prospects for winning the championship were not optimistic.
However, since entering the knockout rounds, the "Three Lions" have been impressive. First they eliminated the powerful Germany 2-0, and then sent the "Dark Horse" Ukraine out with a 4-0 disparity.
Since the semi-finals and finals are played at Wembley Stadium in London, taking advantage of the home court, stars such as Kane and Sterling are expected to lead their teams at home to make history.
In the first match of this European Cup against Finland, Eriksson fell to the ground and fainted, affecting the hearts of hundreds of millions of fans.
After the top star "falls", Denmark lost the first two games of the group stage, defeating Russia in the last round to enter the top 16 and then eliminated Wales and the Czech Republic to enter the semifinals.
If the "Danish fairy tale" of 1992 can be reproduced, and finally win the cup with Britain, Italy and the West, it would be another good story in the European Cup.
European Cup remaining schedule
Semifinal 1
July 7th at 3 o'clock
Italy VS Spain
Semifinal 2
July 8th at 3 o'clock
England VS Denmark
finals
July 12th at 3 o'clock
1 winner in the semi-final VS 2 winner in the semi-final
Author/Beijing News reporter Xu Bangyin